BSTJ 62: 7. September 1983: Total Network Data System: Introduction. (Schenker, L.)

THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL

Vol. 62, No. 7, September 1983
Printed in U.S.A.

Total Network Data System:

Introduction

By L. SCHENKER*
(Manuscript received April 18, 1983)

Since the earliest days of telephony telephone traffic measurements
have been needed to determine the proper quantities of circuits,
operators, and switching systems. In this context "proper" is defined
as the efficient and effective utilization of operating factors that
provide good service to customers at the lowest possible cost.

The Total Network Data System (TNDS), comprising thirteen
different operations systems, is a very large, complex, coordinated set
of computer systems developed by Bell Laboratories and now used
throughout the Bell Operating Companies. The systems that comprise
the Total Network Data System collect, validate, process, archive, and
retrieve the traffic data required to fill the entire spectrum of user
needs, from near-real-time network management and performance
monitoring, through weekly/monthly provisioning and administration,
to long-range engineering and planning. The TNDS maintains inter-
faces with the many telecommunications systems, as well as with
operations systems such as the Central Office Equipment Engineering
System (COEES), which depend on traffic data.

As the size and complexity of the telephone network expanded, a
need evolved for larger quantities of more accurate and timely traffic

* Bell Laboratories.

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2123

data. Early measurements of busy equipment were made manually
(switch counts, peg counts, etc.) and processed with the aid of desk
calculators. The mechanical registers of the 1940s and 1950s evolved
into camera register recorders and traffic usage recorders, which
partially automated the process. In the mid-1960s, data were being
keypunched and then summarized and processed on the large billing
computers already in use by comptrollers' organizations. In the early
1970s the advent of the minicomputer facilitated on-line data collec-
tion and real-time processing to support such functions as network
management. By the mid-1970s, a variety of computer systems col-
lected and processed traffic data to support trunk and switching
engineering, administration, and network management. These systems
have evolved into a tightly coupled family of operations systems,
TNDS, which have been implemented and updated in all the Bell
Operating Companies. The systems operate on dedicated minicom-
puters and large general -purpose computers. The TNDS collects,
processes, and utilizes traffic data to provide excellent, efficient,
economical telephone service.

The TNDS was developed, used, and enhanced during the thirteen
years from 1969 to the present. It has become an indispensable element
of Bell operating activity. Without the extensive mechanization pro-
vided by the TNDS, it is inconceivable that we could have accommo-
dated the explosive network growth, reconfiguration, and churning.
Without the TNDS, operating and investment costs would have risen
and service would have been degraded.

This special issue of the Journal addresses the TNDS from many
points of view. The first two articles describe the TNDS environment
and objectives and outline the system plan. The third article describes
the conceptual framework and theory upon which the TNDS is built.
The eight succeeding, more detailed, articles describe the functions
performed by the TNDS and the component operations systems that
have been developed to support these functions. The final article,
prepared by an employee of Southern Bell, describes the TNDS from
an operating telephone company perspective.

As we contemplate the future, we envision continued evolution in
two areas: Modifications will be required to keep pace with new
services and new technology, to provide interfaces with new telecom-
munications equipment, and to facilitate new network requirements
(such as Dynamic Non-Hierarchical Network Routing); and enhance-
ments will be needed to improve efficiency and make the systems user-
friendly. These enhancements will include simplified architecture and
new computing facilities, enhanced data communications among the
TNDS elements, interactive update features, consolidation of record
bases, and on-line user documentation.

2124 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 1983

This special issue of The Bell System Technical Journal appears at
an appropriate time — the end of an era. The individual articles reflect
the way in which business was conducted prior to 1982. As a result of
divestiture, responsibility for much of the TNDS will be transferred
to the Central Services Organization, which will be owned and operated
by the seven regional Bell Operating Companies. However, the TNDS
will continue to provide the independent regional companies with
primary traffic data in the future, as it has to the Bell System in the
past, without, we hope, missing a beat during the transition.

AUTHOR

Leo Sehenker, B.S. (Civil Engineering), 1942, University of London; M.S.,
1950, University of Toronto; Ph.D., 1954, University of Michigan; Bell Labo-
ratories, 1954—. After joining Bell Laboratories, Mr. Sehenker was involved
in the development of telephone station equipment, including TOUCH-
TONE® dialing and the TRIMLINE® phone. In 1968, he was promoted to
Director of the Military Electronic Technology Laboratory in North Carolina
and, in 1971, became Director of the Loop Maintenance Systems Laboratory,
which was closely involved with the development of new software and hardware
systems aimed at reducing the expense of maintaining the customer's tele-
phone service. In 1978, he became Director of the Loop Systems Engineering
and Methods Laboratory and, in 1979, he was made Director of the Customer
Network Operations Systems Engineering Center. In 1980 Mr. Sehenker was
appointed Executive Director of the Central Office Operations Division.
Currently, he is Executive Director, Network Systems Planning Division. Mr.
Sehenker has been awarded seven patents in connection with TOUCH-TONE
dialing, PICTUREPHONE® meeting service, and TOUCH-A -MA TIC reper-
tory dialer. Fellow, IEEE; member, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi.

INTRODUCTION 2125